


We're Meant to Be, I Swear

by mortesvivantes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-28 05:57:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11411658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mortesvivantes/pseuds/mortesvivantes
Summary: James likes Lily and Sirius likes Remus, but they're young and dumb about feelings. No mad twists, this is just a casual Marauders storyline. Also my first HP fic ever so please be nice





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> meet the marauders, mortesvivantes style!
> 
> i guess very slight warning for bad language? there's very little of it so it's up to you

James Potter flopped down on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room, letting out an exaggerated sigh. When it had no effect, he cleared his throat and tried again, only louder. At the obvious demand for attention Sirius, who was sat beside him, flipped his fringe out of his face and turned to face James. “Why, darling, you sound upset. Whatever could be the matter?”  
Finally being noticed, James picked up a cushion from beside him and pulled it against his chest, pointedly not looking at Sirius. “Lily still won’t talk to me. I spent the entirety of Potions class trying to catch her attention and the only acknowledgement I got that she even saw me was her stupid friends laughing at me.” He huffed a sigh and looked mournfully up at his friend.  
“You’re an idiot,” Sirius informed him, casually returning to the book he had been reading. This took James by surprise and he frowned, stealing the book and holding it away from Sirius. Before he could demand clarification, Sirius snorted, “I stand corrected. You’re a dick.” He scowled at James and stabbed a finger at his chest. “You can’t just wander through your classes and expect her to fall at your feet. She has high standards and you made fun of her friend.”  
“Snivellus-”  
“I hate him just as much as you, Potter. But just think logically for a minute, if you think your inferior mind can handle it.” James punctuated Sirius’ words by hitting him with the cushion, but said nothing. “You’re going to have to do something to prove to Lily that you’re not the same immature git that used magic to taunt Snivellus.”  
James considered that for a moment. “So I should pretend to apologise to Snivellus?”  
“For God’s sake, Prongs. If you pretend to do it, it’s not real. You need to do something sincere that will show her you’re the kind of guy she could fancy.” Sirius rolled his eyes dramatically and folded his arms across his chest, his point made. James stood up and made a show of placing the cushion back on the sofa and closing Sirius’ book around a slip of paper to mark the page and putting that down too.  
A wicked glint in his eye, he nonchalantly straightened up and said, “You’re awfully good at advice for someone who’s been pining over Moony forever.”

That was the final straw. Sirius leapt up from his seat and chased after James, who had bolted the second he finished speaking. He threw himself up the stairs to the dormitory, hollering threats and promises of violence after James’ back. When he shoved open the dormitory door and launched inside, he found James standing beside Remus, who looked perplexed and a little annoyed.  
“Do I even want to ask what you two are doing?”  
Sirius scowled at James and James stuck out his tongue in return. “I’ll get you yet, Potter.”  
“Have either of you even started studying for the Herbology test?” Remus tutted. “Professor Sprout will have your heads if you fail again.”  
James draped his arms over Remus’ shoulders and grinned at him. “I bet you could get Padfoot to study if you wanted. He really loves Herbology.” This was a lie. Sirius hated Herbology unless they were studying a plant that had fatality potential. But James saw the look in Sirius’ eyes when Remus was explaining something and, as much as he teased him, he knew Remus was oblivious to the implication. Even so, Sirius leaned over to punch James’ arm. Remus frowned; Sirius sighed.  
“Kindly tell little Prongs here that he is wasting his time trying to get Lily to notice him,” he said. “And that when I give him good advice, he should actually listen.”  
“It’s not a waste of time. Lily would like him if he stopped being a git to Severus.”  
“But that’s never going to happen, or we’d have to boot him out of the Marauders for being boring.”  
“I’d like James and Lily to get together. It’d be nice to have someone sane around here.”  
“I’m sane!”  
“Whatever you say, Padfoot. But there is nothing sane about someone who became an illegal animagus to spend full moons hanging out with a werewolf.” In spite of the joking tone, Sirius’ expression changed and he momentarily looked upset, ready to go on a rant reminding Remus that they all loved him and that he didn’t have to be alone any more on full moons. Sensing a change in the atmosphere, James had to speak. 

“You two are like an old married couple,” he broke in. Sometime during the exchange he’d moved away from Remus and dropped onto his bed. “And neither of you has actually helped me figure out what to do.”  
“I told you what to do. Stop showboating,” Sirius retorted, dropping onto Remus’ bed, since it was closer than his own.  
James groaned. “I can’t help being this devilishly handsome and interesting. It’s clearly entirely her fault for not being attracted to me. Everyone else is.”  
“Sorry, Prongs, you’re not my type,” Sirius said, a wicked grin on his face. James threw his glasses case at him.  
“I’m going to go study in the Great Hall. Try not to follow me,” Remus sighed, massaging his temple as he gathered up his books and left. James and Sirius exchanged a look – and a few choice words – before Sirius grabbed a quill and some parchment and went after Remus.  
“Enjoy your revision, Padfoot,” James called, cackling to himself. He picked up a scrap piece of parchment and scrawled You don’t need Felix Felicis to get lucky, before folding it into a crane-like shape and enchanting it to find Lily Evans. 

Mere minutes later, a small red envelope floated in through his window. He instantly realised what it was and stuck his fingers in his ears before opening it. The letter screamed ‘Leave me alone!’ in Lily’s voice, backed up by what sounded like a large group of friends, before ripping itself up. James scowled at the scraps of paper as they fell out of the air onto his duvet.


	2. Chapter 2

After a few hours of grumpily lying on his bed and ripping the remnants of the Howler into the tiniest pieces he possibly could, James got bored of feeling sorry for himself and decided to go and find one of the many groups of people who adored him. He ran his fingers through his hair to get just the right amount of scruffy, rolled up the sleeves of his cloak and headed out of the dorm.  
He almost tripped over a small lump sitting just to the side of his door and only just managed to avoid actually falling over.  
“Merlin’s _arse_ -”  
“Oh sorry Si- Jam- Prongs,” the lump stuttered, obviously startled.  
James managed a slightly breathless laugh. “Don’t worry about it, Wormtail.” He reached down, offering a hand to Peter to help him out. He grasped his forearm just below the elbow and when Peter was stood, grinned and told him, “Y’know, this is how you make an Unbreakable Vow.” This seemed to elate Peter and he giggled as if the two of them were sharing some great secret. James slung an arm around Peter’s shoulders and looked at the book in his hands with interest. “This looks like it’s from the Restricted Section, Wormy. You haven’t been borrowing my cloak, have you?”  
They both know Peter would never so much as touch the cloak without making sure James was okay with it. “No. I got a note from Madam Hooch. I think she felt sorry for me because I fell off my broom again.”  
James quirked an eyebrow, coolly appraising Peter. “You okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Peter replied, and James would have to be blind to miss the adoration in Peter’s eyes and smile. “It’s just a book of Quidditch deaths and disasters. She said I could skip classes and do posters about safe Quidditch practice.”  
The smile James offered was sympathetic; he knew full well how difficult Peter found quidditch. Not that he was Merlin’s gift to schoolwork, but it was nice that he’d be doing something more suited to him. “So why were you reading it outside the dorm?”  
Peter’s smile dropped and he hung his head. “I was reading outside, but a bunch of Slytherins went by and they wanted to sit where I was. I… didn’t want to be a bother.”  
“Who was it?” The only answer Peter offered was a shrug. James scowled, but didn’t probe him further. “So why were you sat outside? You live here too.”  
“Well I heard you all talking together, and then Rem- Moony and Padfoot left and I heard a girl’s voice so I didn’t want to interrupt.”  
James was about to tell Peter that he didn’t have to worry about not using their nicknames if he forgot, but the end of his sentence just left him snorting a laugh. “There’s no girl in the dorm, Wormtail. Evans sent me a Howler.”  
“Lily Evans?”  
“The very same. She’s still resistant to my charms, somehow. I’m working on it, though.”  
Peter frowned. “Professor Flitwick said we weren’t allowed to use charms on other people.”  
“Not a literal charm,” James scoffed. “I just meant that she still thinks I’m an idiot.”  
Peter seemed to consider that for a moment. “So then, why do you still keep trying to date her?”  
James winked at him and simply retorted, “She can’t resist me forever. I’m just too good-looking for that.” Peter laughed and tucked his book under his arm. “Are you busy now?”  
Peter shook his head. “I was just going to read or something.”  
“Wanna go to the kitchens and convince the elves to give us something to eat?”

The two of them wandered through the castle, Peter talking animatedly about something he’d done in Herbology. Early evening sunlight slanted through the arches and cast long shadows along the ground and up the walls. It was a warm evening, at least for England, and there was a welcome breeze that blew their cloaks in sweeping arcs around their legs. James was ribbing him and they turned a corner, laughing together, before walking directly into someone coming the other way. Peter spluttered an apology while James reached out to catch the other person. He caught their wrist to keep them from falling, when he finally realised who it was.  
“Watch where you’re going, Snivellus,” he sneered. He let go of his wrist and Severus fell onto the floor with a thump, his books scattering across the stone floor. He jumped up. Scowling, he ignored the books now discarded on the floor and pulled his wand, pointing it immediately at James’ throat.  
“I’m sick of you, Potter,” he shouted. James hadn’t had a chance to draw his own wand and just had to hold his ground, meeting Severus’ eyes in bold challenge. Peter looked on in horror, hesitating, before running off as fast as he could. Severus glanced over to watch him go and smirked. “Not so tough without your backup, are you?”  
By this point a small crowd had gathered. A few braver onlookers shouted out support to James, jeering Severus. “You’re a bloody coward, Snivellus,” he snorted. “What are you gonna do, hex me? Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes and apparently that snapped something in Severus. He shoved James hard enough to send him staggering back, but before he could think of a spell to get his revenge James had drawn his wand. “Expelliarmus,” he said sharply, sending Severus’ wand skittering away. It bounced off a wall and Severus regarded it with horror. He growled at ran at James, but James intercepted him with a cry of, “Impedimenta!” Severus was stopped dead in his tracks, his arms still raised in a threat. James smirked; now that he had the upper hand, his casual demeanour returned easily. “Wingardium leviosa,” he said coolly, lifting Severus into the air. His cloak billowed in the wind and his long hair whipped against his face the higher he got. James walked out through one of the arches, making sure to keep his wand aimed at Severus. Once they wereoutside, James raised him a good ten feet in the air.  
He flashed a cocky grin around the students gathering in a circle around him. A commotion bubbled up, and Sirius and Remus practically fell through the first row of people. “We heard you decided to let Snivellus kick your arse, and we couldn’t miss that,” Sirius crowed, laughing to see Severus hanging uselessly in the air. “Alright, there?” Severus didn’t reply, except with an explicit hand gesture, which only made Sirius laugh harder. Even Remus was smiling, although he tried to cover it. 

James egged on the crowd. “Right, who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s trousers?” Just as he was about to do it, one more person burst into the circle.  
“You put him down right now, Potter,” she cried. Lily Evans’ expression was as fiery as her red hair, eyes blazing with fury. She stormed up to James, viciously stabbing a finger against his chest. “Why do you have to be so bloody stupid all the time?”  
“He was trying to hex me, this is self defence. Besides, just… look at him.” James’ pride wouldn’t let him apologise or simply let Severus down, and he gestured at him with mocking distaste.  
“Self defence? God, you’re such an idiot.”  
“A handsome idiot.”  
“Put him down.”  
“I’ll put him down, on one condition. You have to go on a date with me.” James was smirking, looking pretty pleased with himself.  
“Get this through your thick skull. I will never go on a date with you, even if you were the last person on earth.”  
James sighed and rolled his eyes. “You want me to put him down?”  
“Yes.”  
“You’re the boss.” James flicked his wand upwards just slightly, lifting Snape higher in the air before dropping the charm and letting him land on the ground, his cloak falling over his head. James turned away to high-five Sirius, and the next thing he knew there was a searing pain across the side of his face. 

He roared and cursed and spun on his heel. A flash of light burst through the air as Sirius stunned Severus in immediate retaliation.  
“You all right, mate?” he asked James over his shoulder.  
With one hand over his face, making sure the cut wasn’t bleeding too badly, James nodded and pointed his wand. “Fine. Be better once Snivelly learns his lesson.”  
“What have you got in mind?”  
“Well, it involves his cloak being stuck over his head,” James grinned, but before he could so much as raise his wand, Lily had aimed a hard kick at his shins. “Ow!”  
“Serves you right. Leave Severus alone.”  
He sighed dramatically and nudged Sirius, who looked annoyed but muttered a counter-curse to free Severus. “You’re lucky Evans was-”  
“I don’t need a filthy mudblood defending me,” Snape yelled. Lily’s expression went ice cold and she turned to stalk away.  
“I won’t bother next time the whole school can see your pants, then.”  
James wasn’t about to let it go so easily. “You take that back! Apologise to her,” he demanded, his wand aimed squarely at Severus again.  
Lily turned around and smacked James’ wrist, hard enough to make him drop his wand. Her face was stony and she was fighting back tears. “I don’t want you standing up for me. You’re both horrible and I want nothing to do with either of you!” She shoved him hard and barged past Severus, knocking him aside.  
A deafening silence fell over the courtyard, the only sound being Lily’s footsteps retreating on the stone. James tried to play it off and laughed, convincing no-one, before firing a stunning spell at Severus and throwing him back. He didn’t give him a chance to get up, striding towards him and throwing him back again. “You’re dirt under my shoe,” he snarled. Remus ran up after him and grabbed his arm to stop him hexing Severus again.  
“He’s not worth it, Prongs,” he muttered.  
“Got that right. C’mon, Moony, the Great Hall is calling my name.”  
“Did I hear dinner?” Sirius ran over to the two, thumping James’ back triumphantly and throwing his arm around Remus. Peter scurried up behind them and together, the Marauders went inside, leaving Severus to gather up his books from the dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> told myself i'd post chapter two when i got to 100 hits on this! any comments / constructive criticism are much appreciated :)
> 
> to clarify, yes, i based the thing with snape on the scene in ootp but i didn't want to use jk's writing (bc that's plagiarism kids) so yes, it's a bit different. hope you like it!


End file.
